Q
Q''' supplies Bond with gadgets, he is in almost all of the Bond films. Q was played by Peter Burton in Dr. No, but was unavailable for the next film and Desmond Llewelyn took over the role acting in every film after (except Live and Let Die) until his death in 1999. John Cleese, who played Q's assistant R in The World Is Not Enough took over the role of Q since then. Q's real name is Major Boothroyd. '''Q is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and movies. Q (standing for Quartermaster), like M, is a job title rather than a name. He is the head of Q branch, the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service. The Q character actually appears only fleetingly in Ian Fleming's novels, but comes into his own in the successful Bond movie series. The character of Q (although not always identified as such) has appeared in each of the 007 films except for Live and Let Die. The newest Bond films, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, are also be missing Q. Major Boothroyd The ancestry of the Q character is rather complicated. In the Fleming novels there are frequent references to 'Q branch' and in sixth novel, Dr. No, the service armourer Major Boothroyd appears for the first time. Fleming named the character after an army officer who had written to him suggested that Bond was not using the best firearm available. Boothroyd is also referenced occasionally in the Bond novels of John Gardner, but the author preferred instead to focus on a new character (see "Other Qs", below). In the films, 'Major Boothroyd' first appears in Dr. No and later in From Russia with Love, although played by different actors. Beginning in Goldfinger and in each film thereafter Major Boothroyd is most often referred to as Q, however, in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) he is referred once again as Major Boothroyd in dialogue. Some sources, most notably the 1980s James Bond 007 role-playing game suggested that Boothroyd's first name was Geoffrey, although this contradicts Fleming. No first name was ever mentioned on screen. Peter Burton as Major Boothroyd Major Boothroyd was first played by Peter Burton in the first James Bond film, Dr. No (1962). In the only scene in which he appears, he replaces Bond's Beretta .25 pistol with Bond's signature Walther PPK handgun. Desmond Llewelyn as Q (a.k.a. Major Boothroyd) Due to scheduling conflicts, Peter Burton was unavailable to reprise his role as Boothroyd in From Russia with Love (1963) and was replaced by Desmond Llewelyn, who would continue to play the role, with the exception of Live and Let Die in every James Bond film until his death in 1999. In the series, Boothroyd was preparing to retire during the events of The World is Not Enough and has clearly retired by the time of Die Another Day (2002), but is yet to be confirmed on screen whether the character is now deceased. In the James Bond movies, the relationship between Q and Bond is one of fatherly exasperation ("Oh, do grow up, 007!") met with adolescent indifference. The exception is during From Russia with Love, Llewelyn's Bond debut, in which he simply introduces the gadgets, then makes sure Bond knows how to work the booby-trapped briefcase catches.) The gadgets supplied by Q are almost invariably destroyed as a result of Bond's use of them, and Q is constantly exhorting Bond to take better care of them and to occasionally read the instruction manual. Bond usually responds by displaying an instant mastery of whatever device Q hands to him. In addition to the tech laboratories, Q occasionally meets Bond in the field to deliver some equipment or to personally handle some specialized devices to assist Bond. This goes so far as in Licence to Kill where Q sides with Bond, supplying him with gadgetry and even helping him operationally despite Bond's having resigned from MI6. Featured in *''From Russia with Love'' *''Goldfinger'' *''Thunderball'' *''You Only Live Twice'' *''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' *''Diamonds Are Forever'' *''The Man with the Golden Gun'' *''The Spy Who Loved Me'' *''Moonraker'' *''For Your Eyes Only'' *''Octopussy'' *''A View to a Kill'' *''The Living Daylights'' *''Licence to Kill'' *''GoldenEye'' *''Tomorrow Never Dies'' *''The World Is Not Enough'' John Cleese as Q (formerly known as R) In The World Is Not Enough an assistant to Major Boothroyd (Q) was introduced, teasingly called "R" by Bond and played by John Cleese. His real name has yet to be revealed, but he is initially credited as R in The World is Not Enough stemming from a joke in which Bond asks the elder Q: "If you're Q does that make him R?" (Cleese's character responds, "Ah yes, the legendary 007 wit. Or at least, half of it"). The character continued to be referred to as "R" in videogames produced between 1999 and the release of Die Another Day in 2002. Following actor Llewelyn's death in 1999, John Cleese's character took over the job of the former Q beginning with Die Another Day, and so from then on was known as Q, although Bond initially refers to him as "Quartermaster", the first official on-screen reference as to what Q stands for. Cleese's Q is almost a radical departure from Major Boothroyd. From the start, Cleese's Q never liked Bond based simply from Bond's reputation of not returning items in pristine condition. When Bond tries to joke with Q, Cleese's Q is a lot quicker at comebacks than Boothroyd ever was, making him more of a match for Bond in terms of wit. Though Llewelyn's and Cleese's Qs are different from one another they both share the same attitude towards their professional work. In almost every film one or the other have said either "I never joke about my work" or "Pay attention" to Bond. Initially portrayed as rather clumsy and obtuse (i.e. referring to a vehicle as "rather stocked" rather than as "fully loaded"), once R was "promoted" to Q he has become more self-assured and more in the style of his predecessor. Featured in *''The World Is Not Enough'' — as R *''Die Another Day'' Ben Whishaw as Q Q returns to the franchise after being absent in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. He will be played by Ben Whishaw, which will mark the first time the actor playing Q is younger than the one playing Bond. Featured in *Skyfall Other Q's In the 1983 unofficial (non-EON Productions) film Never Say Never Again, Q Branch is headed by a man referred to as both "Algernon" and "Q". It is unclear whether he is intended to be a successor to the EON Q (like the film's M is said to be). In the 1991 animated TV series James Bond Jr., Q's adolescent grandson, Horace (aka "I.Q.") attends the same high security secondary school as James Bond's supposed nephew. Q'ute John Gardner, in his James Bond novels, introduced the character of Ann Reilly, a young female assistant to Q whose co-workers as well as Bond nicknamed Q'ute. Major Boothroyd himself was only mentioned a couple of times. During Licence Renewed and For Special Services, Q'ute and Bond maintained a brief romantic relationship. Afterwards, it was revealed a number of times that Bond and Q'ute were involved in a casual relationship. By the time Gardner left the book series, Q'ute had taken over the running of Q Branch, but when Raymond Benson took over the literary series, he ignored much of Gardner's continuum and gave Q Branch back to Major Boothroyd with no explanation and no further references to Ann Reilly. Parody *A comedic version of Q appears in the unofficial 1967 spoof, Casino Royale, played by Geoffrey Bayldon. *Mortadelo y Filemón's Professor Bacterio is a mad scientist providing the TIA agents with gadgets that always work the opposite of what's intended. *In Terry Pratchett's novel Thief of Time, one of the History Monks is an innovative weapons designer named Qu; he also appears in Pratchett's Night Watch. *In club penguin there is an agent named Garry the Gadget Guy or G (Q) Q-like characters The "gadget-man" character type epitomised by Q has been featured in numerous other productions centered around a secret agent theme. For example, the 1990s series La Femme Nikita featured the character of Walter, a wizened agent who designs all the gadgets and tools used by "Section One". A similar character was played by John Rhys-Davies in the short-lived spy series Under Cover. In the Naked Gun film series, a police scientist named Ted Olsen provides Lt. Frank Drebin with assorted gadgets to aid him in his investigations. In the 2004 film Van Helsing a character much like Q exists. Van Helsing's side kick Friar Carl makes gadgets in a lab like Q. The most recent example of a Q-like character is Marshall Flinkman on the series Alias. In the 2005 motion picture Batman Begins, Morgan Freeman plays Lucius Fox, head of Wayne Enterprises' "Applied Sciences" division, giving Bruce Wayne access to numerous gadgets in a similar manner to Q. Among these include a swingline, utility belt, protective body armor, gliding cape, and the amazingly rugged Batmobile of the movie. Gadgets For a more complete list see: List of James Bond gadgets Some of the more memorable gadgets supplied by Q include: * The trick briefcase in From Russia with Love * The Aston Martin car with the ejector seat in Goldfinger * The autogyro 'Little Nellie' in You Only Live Twice * The submersible Lotus car ('Wet Nellie') in The Spy Who Loved Me * The AcroStar mini-jet in Octopussy * The ghetto blaster radio rocket launcher ("Something we're working on for the Americans!!") in The Living Daylights (not used by Bond) * The pen grenade in GoldenEye * The remote control BMW 7 Series in Tomorrow Never Dies * The camouflaged Aston Martin in Die Another Day See also * List of James Bond allies External links *The Bond Informant: Q Q